Justice Department Reaches Settlement with YMCA Child Care Centers Over Policies Relating to Children with Autism

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department today announced a settlement agreement with
the West End YMCA, headquartered in Ontario, Calif., that resolves an
investigation into alleged discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA). The agreement covers associated YMCA branches in Ontario, Chino,
Upland, and Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

The underlying complaint filed with the Justice Department alleged that the West
End YMCA terminated a child from its after-school child care program because the
child has autism. Under the agreement, the West End YMCA will implement
policies and procedures to ensure that children with disabilities are afforded
a full and equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from YMCA child care
programs. Procedures for requesting reasonable modifications to the child care
program will be published in the organization’s parent handbooks, and YMCA
staff involved in child care decisions will be trained on ADA obligations in
the child care setting. The West End YMCA also agreed to pay monetary damages
to the complainant.

“Ensuring that children with disabilities, and their families, have equal access
to reliable child care goes to the heart of the ADA’s promises and protections,”
said Wan J. Kim, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “I
commend the West End YMCA for working with us, and I hope that this agreement
will be a model for other child care providers.”

Under Title III of the ADA, private child care providers are prohibited from
discriminating on the basis of disability, and must make reasonable
modifications to policies, practices and procedures to afford individuals with
disabilities the opportunity to participate and benefit from the child care
services. Additional information about the Civil Rights Division of the
Justice Department is available at http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/. Those
interested in finding out more about federal disability rights statutes can
call the Justice Department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301
or (800) 514-0383 (TDD), or access the ADA Web site at http://www.ada.gov.